Democrats In Congress

Except for the taxes and budget cuts and program omissions nobody objects to the plan.But can Bill run over the Democrats in Congress as easily as Ron did?To save money, Bill took Air Force One on a sales trip through the Midwest, instead of the Pacific Coast.For the record: H. L. Mencken had no business being a District Court judge, either.

It's not dawn yet, but Rep. Steny H. Hoyer is already greeting voters at a park-and-ride lot in Southern Maryland. His seat in the House of Representatives is considered safe in Tuesday's election, but his status as its second-ranking member certainly isn't. If Democrats lose the House, as analysts predict, Hoyer will be out as majority leader. He has been working hard to prevent such an outcome, and to increase his own victory margin as much as possible. He raised money at Washington events and campaigned for Democratic colleagues around the country.

The outcome gives a whole new dimension to the term, winning ugly. Don't blame George. He's not Florida's secretary of state. Democrats in Congress get the chance to prove they are not as obstructionist, negative, nihilistic, destructive, dysfunctional and unpatriotic as Republicans during the Clinton years. Or are. Poor Al. Never had a Plan B. No job. No home. Fortunately, D.C. has shelters.

Democrats in Washington are determined to ram their agenda through Congress and -- possibly as soon as this weekend -- transform national health care from liberal dream into legislative reality. To do so, they are willing to ignore: • Public opinion. Large majorities of Americans continue to oppose the health care plan; as of March 8, Rasmussen reported 53 percent against, including 41 percent who strongly oppose. A recent CNN poll found only 25 percent of Americans in favor of the plan, while the balance favor Congress starting over or scrapping work on health care altogether.

Do you agree with President Barack Obama and most Democrats in Congress that reform of the nation's health care system should include what's known as a "public option" - the opportunity for citizens to choose a government-sponsored insurance plan along with competing private plans? Yes 46% No 48% Not sure 6% (1,962 votes, results not scientific) Next poll: : Will Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement that he accepts the idea of a Palestinian state help move the Middle East toward peace?

We agree with H. Ross Perot, the Texas entrepreneur and public-policy idea man, on the postwar partisan political debate. He said it was on the third-grade level of name-calling.Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, didn't even wait for the war to end before he sent out a party fund-raising letter referring to Democrats in Congress as "appeasement before country liberals." Other Republicans have resorted to even more demagogic statements, accusing Democrats of trying to undermine President Bush's efforts.

THE FIRST Summit of the Americas, convened by President Clinton four years ago in Miami, set a goal of free trade for the hemisphere by 2005, calling for concrete progress by 2000.The second Summit of the Americas, this weekend in Santiago, Chile, will speed the progress, with President Clinton cheerleading. The catch is that, this time, he will be the laggard.The 34 national leaders understand that ending protectionism is the key to making their national economies grow. He is the one unable to make commitments.

Liberal Democrats in Congress don't like it, but "yellow dog" DTC Democrats of the conservative and moderate ilk do. It's creating a stir in party circles. Call it is the re-redefinition of Bill Clinton.What's happening should not come as a surprise. There's a presidential election next year and Mr. Clinton's bleak political outlook has persuaded him that he's got to change his approach. Instead of following the liberal lead of congressional Democrats intent on defending all social legislation of the last 40 years -- and savaging the Republican majority for pushing through sweeping changes -- Mr. Clinton had suddenly jumped ship.

WASHINGTON -- That was not exactly an avalanche of endorsements that came down on Gov. Bill Clinton when he visited Capitol Hill the day after his clear-cut victory in the Pennsylvania presidential primary. By one count, 31 House and Senate members climbed aboard the Clinton bandwagon. That brings the total of previously unpledged congressional "superdelegates" who had committed to him to 123, out of 275 getting a free ride to the Democratic National Convention.The whole idea of the superdelegates is that as ranking party officials and elected officeholders, they are supposed to function as party wise men and women poised to bring political pragmatism to the choice of a nominee, especially if the voters in primaries are deemed to have lacked it.The designation was inspired by the 1976 nomination of Jimmy Carter through the primary election process, which at the time and in retrospect many Democratic regulars considered disastrous, because Carter was such an unknown quantity, especially to the party wise men and women.

As a congressman and leader of a party campaign committee, Rahm Emanuel helped 54 Democrats win the House seats they hold today. When Tom Daschle was the Senate Democratic leader, he contributed more than $1.5 million to help a new generation of lawmakers win office. Now, Emanuel and Daschle are key members of Barack Obama's incoming administration, and emblems of a top priority of the new White House team: They are trying to build sturdy bridges between the new White House and Democrats in Congress, coordinating their plans well before Inauguration Day. When lawmakers hear from the two prominent members of Obama's team, they will know that they are talking to people who not only have the president's ear, but who played important roles in putting many of them in Congress.

Do you agree with President Barack Obama and most Democrats in Congress that reform of the nation's health care system should include what's known as a "public option" - the opportunity for citizens to choose a government-sponsored insurance plan along with competing private plans? Yes 46% No 48% Not sure 6% (1,962 votes, results not scientific) Next poll: : Will Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement that he accepts the idea of a Palestinian state help move the Middle East toward peace?

Washington -Rep. Chris Van Hollen figured his mission was complete after Democrats bulked up their majority in Congress last fall. Letting someone else lead the House campaign committee would free him to advance on the leadership ladder. And he'd avoid blame if the party lost ground in the next election. It's been more than a century since a party added seats in the situation Democrats find themselves in now. "We have our work cut out for us," says the Maryland congressman in an interview.

WASHINGTON - Senior Bush administration officials, consulting with the Obama transition team, have prepared a plan to ask lawmakers for the second half of the $700 billion financial rescue package despite intense opposition in Congress, sources familiar with the discussions said. The initiative could create an unusual political scenario. If Congress were to vote down the measure, either President George W. Bush or President-elect Barack Obama would have to use his veto power to get the money.

As a congressman and leader of a party campaign committee, Rahm Emanuel helped 54 Democrats win the House seats they hold today. When Tom Daschle was the Senate Democratic leader, he contributed more than $1.5 million to help a new generation of lawmakers win office. Now, Emanuel and Daschle are key members of Barack Obama's incoming administration, and emblems of a top priority of the new White House team: They are trying to build sturdy bridges between the new White House and Democrats in Congress, coordinating their plans well before Inauguration Day. When lawmakers hear from the two prominent members of Obama's team, they will know that they are talking to people who not only have the president's ear, but who played important roles in putting many of them in Congress.

A post-election postscript offers a chance to pick up where we left off on critical players in this historic election: Mac is back: In defeat, Sen. John McCain was a politician of striking grace and generosity. His warm tribute to President-elect Barack Obama recalled the John McCain who achieved success on tough issues such as campaign finance reform with compromise, respect and reaching across the aisle. His leadership will be needed in the new Congress. The Buffett factor: Despite Senator Obama's intention to raise taxes on the wealthy, 52 percent of voters earning $200,000 or more supported him, according to exit polls.

WASHINGTON - Every so often, luck and circumstance give birth to an accidental congressman or senator, a politician who lands in Washington mainly by being in the right place at the right time. Once in a very long while, those accidents come in droves. That's what happened when Ronald Reagan's 1980 landslide helped turn a six-pack of Republican nonentities into U.S. senators. None ever won a Senate election again, and their now-forgotten names (Jim Abdnor, Mark Andrews, Jeremiah Denton, John East, Paula Hawkins, Mack Mattingly)

WASHINGTON -- Breaking nearly four months of silence on an issue that both parties would prefer to postpone until after the elections, President Bush warned Congress yesterday that its failure to approve more money for the savings and loan bailout was costing taxpayers $4 million to $6 million extra a day.The White House could not avoid the politically painful subject any longer because of a legal stipulation that administration officials testify twice a...

PINEHURST, N.C. -- Vice President Dan Quayle, in some of the most pointed administration criticism of Congress to date in the Persian Gulf crisis, accused unidentified Democrats of "playing politics" with the Middle East situation.Some Democrats, he said, were attempting to portray their party as the party of peace and Republicans as the party of war, undermining public support for Mr. Bush's policies."Congress has not even sworn in its new members, yet already it is playing politics," Mr. Quayle told a meeting of Republican governors at this North Carolina golfing resort.

WASHINGTON -- Congress left for its Thanksgiving recess yesterday without passing a bill to pay for the war in Iraq. The Senate deadlocked over a Democratic demand that the measure include a call for most troops to be withdrawn by the end of 2008. As they have all year, Senate Democrats failed to muster the votes to consider a proposal to condition further spending on a timeline for withdrawing troops. The $50 billion bill, which narrowly passed the House on Wednesday, failed by seven votes.

WASHINGTON -- A new White House report yesterday found "satisfactory" progress on nine of 18 benchmark measures in Iraq, an assessment that drew renewed attacks from Democratic critics of President Bush's policy. Despite their call for a different course in Iraq, however, Democrats have not agreed on an alternative that would bring troops home faster than Bush has ordered. The latest White House evaluation gave passing grades to the Iraqis for integrating members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party into the government and moving toward semi-autonomous regions and other areas.